Article dispensing system



March 28, 1950 G. F. CHODZIESNER ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 28, 1947 [mentor Georyfahod iemr By W, au Lm .Attormys March 28, 1 950 5, QHODZIESNER 2,501,7T2

ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM Filed Oct. 28, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Flslss [menior Georg. F Clwd W iesner A a Afornzws March 9 1950 G. F. CHODZIESNER ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM 4 SheetS -Sheet :5

Filed 001;. 28, 1947 Inventor" I Georg F e 1 4 Aflornqvs March 28, 1950 ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM Filed Oct. 28, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 G. F. CHODZIESNER 2,501,712

Patented Mar. 28, 1950 ARTICLE DISPENSING SYSTEM Georg-.1 1. Ghodziesnen, Bondi, near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, assignor to Communication Eng ineeringPty. Limited, Sydney, New .southwale's, Australia, 'a :corporation of Australia Applicationflctob'er 28, 194 7,'SerialNo. 782,637 in Australia November '8, .1946

Article dispensing systems are known in which 7 articles of various-kinds and/or values oanibe selected from storage bya customer or operator by operating a key set .or similar arrangement which releases the articles from storage and co'nv veys them automatically to anpo int of delivery.

According to the invention .such a System is connected with a cooking section which enables a'customer or operator to transfer articles .s'u'i'table-for cooking to th'iscoo'king section .and then to deliver saidarticlelto apoint or delivery, thus giving the customer the opportunity to, get a meal .while he-is waiting for the delivery (if-other articles he wants to collect from storage. .Routing means are provided which enable the customer to select articles suitable for cooking either "in the cookedor in theiincooked. state. I

I According .to 'anotherffea ture o f the invention, the routing means consists of :a -.conveyor belt with drivingme'an's so arranged ".that the belt can be drivenin either of two directions. In one direction or .-mo-vement the articles dis ensed from storage are transferred directly to a delivery counter to be han'ded over in the uncooked state to the customer and. in the opposite directionlth'e selected articles are transferred to .the cooking section. I

According to a further feature or the invention, the cooking'sec'tion comprises a plurality oi cooking units 'and means "to selectively transfer released articles automatically to one 'of said cooking units. Each 'o'f"'the 'cooking'unit's'ha's a movable grate or conveyor. control means are provided to automatically controiin relation to the kind ofarti'cle to '"be Fcoo'k'ed, *thetemperature in the ccokingunitused "and/or 'the movement or the correspondinggrate.

According to another feature oithe invention "each cooking unit has a plurality of adjustable heating elements and the grate or the cooking unit conveys th'earticle's'to 'tlieheatingelements 7 and .passesth'emon to common conveying-means after a predetermined. time interval.

-'Still another 'feature of "the invention-consists in the provision of arrangements whereby the .2 t dishes when they are passed .on from .a grate to the common conveying means.

According to another feature of the invention, the heating elements areiheated by electrical cur} rent preferably by current or high frequency.

These and. other features of the invention .will be more clearly understood from the following description'in connection with the drawingsin which Fig. .1 shows schematically vthe main .parts of an article dispensing systemlincluding a cooking section and their electrical connections; v

Fig. '2 shows details of a diverter arrangement to direct articles to difierent cooking'units; I

Figs. 3A and "3B show one 'form of a movable grate or conveyor for the transportation of ar'ti c'les through the cooking unit; 3

Figs. 4A and '43 give details of aplate feeding arrangement to feed plates to the output or a cooking unit and to convey them to a suitable deliveryp'oin't;

Fig. 5 gives details of the electrical circuits shown schematically 'inFig. 1.

Article dispensingsystems arekno'w'n'in which articles are selected from suitable storage bins by "the operation of one electrical contact or a 00m.-

bination of .contaots lfor example keys. "These keys operaterelays in aselective switching device to .select .and operate a releasemechan'ism associated withthe bin holding the selected article. The selected article .is thus released "from. "its bin and is conveyed, for example by chutes and'c'om veyor belts to 'a suitable 'deliveryjpo'irit.

Such a system 'is shown schematically "in "Fig.3-

in which an operatorfs position l2 "has rows of "selectediarticle. to adelivery counter '6. Contact "arrangements can be provided in the path of a released article to give an 'indication whenever an article.lrasleftzitsbin.

cooken articles are "placed "on "plates "or suitable The "abovementioned'system is combined at cording to the invention with a cooking section and provision is made to direct articles either directly to a delivery counter or to transfer them to the cooking section from which they are released after cooking. For this purpose the motor is reversible and can be controlled by keys I3 to either direct the articles to the counter 6 or to the cooking section 8 via a diverter arrangement indicated by the control arm Ia and the chutes I8. Details of the diverter arrangement will be described later on in connection with Fig. 2.

The selective switching device I! which controls the release mechanism of a wanted article furthermore operates a control device I over a jumpering frame 20. Details of this equipment and the circuits are shown in Fig. 5 and will be described later.

The control device I not only controls the diverter arrangement Ia but also the contact arms lb and to relate the various parts of the cooking section to the kind of article released from storage and transferred to the cooking section. Before the functions of these contact arms 1b and 1c are described a description of the cooking section 8 is given hereafter.

The cooking section 8 consists of a plurality of cooking units I9, three of which are shown in Fig. 1. It must be understood however that any other number of units can be used. Each of the cooking units consists of a movable grate or conveyor 2|, part of which is shown in Figs. 3A and 3B. The grate 2| consists of a band of wiremeshing or similar material or for example of a series of ceramic links and is driven by suitable driving means through the shaft 34 and a pulley 35. The pulley 35 is equipped with small teeth which grip in openings of the meshing to drive the grate. The grate 2I of each cooking unit I9 passes a number of heating elements 22, 23 and 24. Although three heating elements are shown for each cooking unit any other number can be used. The heating elements are preferably heated by electric current, and high-frequency current .can be used to advantage for this purpose. One or more of these heating elements can be so arranged that the heat is adjustable by the operator.. In Fig. 1 this is indicated by a conmotion between the last heating element 24 of each cooking unit with a corresponding bank contact associated with wiper arm 1b. Arm 1!) is electrically connected with keys I5 in the operators position I2, which permit an adjustment of the heat of heating element 24 of the cooking unit in use at any time.

The driving means for each grate 2I and .a timing device to determine the time for which the grate is moving and the heating elements are switched on, are included in the device 29 provided for each cooking unit. To give an indication to the operator when any of the cooking units is in action, the device 29 is connected via a cable 33 with busy lamps I6 in the operators position.

To save energy the driving means for each grate and the heating elements are preferably controlled by the articles themselves, when they are released from their respective bins. For this purpose each bin is equipped with a contact arrangement operated momentarily at the release of an article from this bin and all contact arrangements are connected over lead 25 with a set of terminals of. jumpering frame 26. The terminals corresponding to contact arrangements for articles suitable for cooking are connected with a bar of the jumpering frame 25 and over 4 lead 21 with the switching gear 28 in the cooking section. This switching gear is selectively connectable over arm 'Ic with any one of the devices 29 operating the various cooking units. Details of the electrical circuits will be described later on in connection with Fig. 5.

In cases where many articles have to be selected in the uncooked state, the lead 21 can be interrupted by the operation of one of the keys I3 to prevent an unnecessary starting of a cooking unit.

When an article has passed through the cooking unit on the movable grate in the proper time as determined by the device 29, it is transferred over a chute 30 to the collecting device 3|. This device can for example include an arrangement to feed a plate or any other suitable dish underneath the chute 3!] whenever an article is released from one of the grates 2i. The cooked article is then delivered to the customer over the transfer arrangement 32 and a movable belt 9, driven by a motor I0, at the delivery counter II. The plate used for this purpose can be made from cardboard or any other cheap material so that it can be thrown away after use to avoid washing of dishes.

Before the operation of the system is described in connection with the circuits of Fig. 5, details of the diverter arrangement 1a and the collecting device 3| will be given hereafter.

Fig. 2 shows two movable grates 2| a and 2Ib driven by driving means, for example electric motors GMI and GMZ. Each movable grate is connected with the common conveyor belt 4 by chutes I8a and I8!) respectively. To direct articles from the conveyor belt 4 to one of the chutes, a diverter, I DV and 2DV respectively, is hinged at the mouth of each chute and is controlled by a solenoid ID and 2D respectively. In Fig. 2 the diverter IDV is in its unoperated position closing chute I8a. To hold the diverter in this position a spring is encircles the core Id operable by the solenoid ID. Ihe solenoid is so arranged that articles on belt 4 can pass underneath. To control electrical circuits when the solenoid is operated a set of contacts IdI, Id2 is arranged at the other side of the solenoid ID. The second diverter 2D shown in Fig. 2 is in its operated position. When the solenoid 2D is energized it attracts the core 2d moving the diverter 2DV into the indicated position and compressing the spring 28. Articles passing along belt 4 in the direction of the arrow are then diverted into chute I81) and thus onto the movable grate 2Ib. At the same time the lower end of the core 2d operates the contacts MI and 2112 to control further circuits as will be described later in connection with Fig. 5.

Details of the collecting device iii in Fig. l which provides a plate for each cooked article are shown in Figs. 4A and 4B. Part of a movable grate 2I is shown, which ends with a chute 30 stretching over a continuously running short conveyor belt 65, which delivers cooked articles to a chute 32 to transfer them to a conveyor belt 9 and thus to a delivery point. Although only one chute 36 is shown, several chutes can be so arranged, for example opposite each other, that they discharge cooked articles onto a plate on belt 65. Underneath chute 30 and on both sides of belt are two bars 43 which are each moved upwards by a solenoid PS through a core 48 and are guided by pins 44 in a suitable bracket 45. 'At the lower end of the core 46 is arranged a contact set ps operable thereby. Next to the chute 3!] and the end of be1t=65 is-a plateuholder t! which is so arranged at itslower endythatlt holds plates 68 (preferably made .of cardboard) stacked therein, but permits the lowest plate to be pulled out.

'The arrangement to pull a plate out of the holder 43 and to push itunderneath chute 3G is shown underneath the plate holder and consists of a motor driven disc 3''? with an excentrically fixed arm it. A contact set 38 operated by disc 3'! permits only one revolution of disc 3'! for each operation. Linked with arm 4% is a double armed lever 50 and a plunger 5! guided in a bearing 52. Plunger 5| carries at itsupper end a suction pad 53'and a small valve inside which is controlled by the small lever 54 and the stop 55. The lever 56. is pivoted at a bracket Bfifixed to the topplate 57. The other end of lever 58 is secured by a string or chain 58 over roller 66 to a slide 59, slidably mounted on top plate cl between guides 6|. The slidefii is furthermore under the influence of weights 62 which by strings 63 try to pull the slide over the suction pad 53.

Fig. 4A shows the device in its unoperated position. A soon as an article is transferred to a cooking unit for cooking the motor driving the disc 3? for one revolution in the direction of the arrow is started and the suction pad 53 is raised by-arm 49 and plunger til until it presses itself against the lowest plate 38. The plates are held down against this pressure by a suitable weight 56. When arm t3 has passed its highest point it moves downward whereby the suction pad 53 pulls the lowest plate out of the plate holder ill while-the next plate is held in the holder at the lower rim of the holder. At the further downward movement of plunger 5! the small lever 54 knocks against the stop 55 opening the valve in the suction=pad and releasing the plate which now rests on the top p1ate'59. At the same time'the left arm of lever 50 is moved upwards and slide 59 can now move under the influence of the weights 62 to the right pushing the released plate on to the bars .3 which had been raised by the solenoids PS at the same time at which the disc 37 started to move. When the arm 49 has passed its lowest point, the left arm'of lever 5i is moved inthe' opposite direction and pulls over string '58 the sli'de id back to it initial position. When disc 31 has made a full revolution it is stopped again and the arrangement is ready for thenext operation.

When'the article is cooked and is released from grate 2! over chute 312 onto the plate resting on the bars 43 the solenoids PS are deenergized, the barst? move downwards and the plate thus rests now on the belt 65 which transports the plate with the cooked article to chute 32 and thus via conveyor belt 9 to a suitable delivery point H (in Fig. 1).

The co-operation of the various parts will now be described in connection with the circuits shown in Fig. 5. Only those circuits are shown in detail which deal with thecooking section of the article dispensing system, while the selectionofarticles from the bins is indicated only diagrammatically. The operators position l2 with the selection keys M is connected with the selecting switching device I! to operate oneof the contacts Ia, 2a, 4a 12a in accordance with the wanted article. The bin arrangement l storing articles of varied character and theassociated release mechanisms are indicated in Fig. 5 by the release magnets 1M, 2M, 3M, 4M which are selectively operated'over the corresponding contacts lla witdd'nathe .se-

lecting switching device ,I I. ..Each aa-rticleat its releaseoperates momentarily anzassociatejd trim contactJT, 2T, 3T, 4T nTrespectivelywhichbesides other functions that it mi ht iulfill sets the cooking section into operation overa setof terminals at the jumpering frameflfi', the; bar #39, lead 21,'key'l 3bwith contacts A'Z and'the switching gear 28. Itmaybe mentionediherezthatifor articles which are notsuitablefor cooking,.no connection. is provided between corresponding terminals and bar 39at the jumperingframe 26.

While one of the contacts in the selecting switching device I! is closed it operates .ovena jumpering frame .20 the control device I which direct the articles to one ofthe cooking .units. The jumpering, frame 20 enablespthe coordination of any .article with any of the :cooking units. Three cooking units areassumed in the example Shown in Fig. .5 and. thus :the contacts of the selecting switching device l1 areconne'cted-with three terminals at the iumpering frame 26 .in accordance with the cooking requirements of corresponding articles.

Over the jumpering frame 20 and the control device 1 one of the diverter'magnets ID, -'2D-'or 3D is operated and at' the same time a: rotary switch with the wipers 1a, 1b,.rl-c is stepped up. by magnet UM to connect over wiper'lc-theproper device 28 with the control-gear :28. Thedevice 29 foreach cooking unitstarts the motor GM for the corresponding-movable grate, energizes the collecting device 3| (which has been described above in connectionwith Figs. 4A and 4B) and switches on the heating elements'22, 23 and 24 of the corresponding cookin'g unit. After a predetermined time interval all circuits are switched off again by the thermal bi-metal switch TR.

The wiper 7a locks the magnet UM during this procedure, and over wiper 1b the last heating element '24 of each cooking unit is conne'ctible with a regulator l5 to enable a heat regulation by the operator.

The operation ofthe circuit will now be described in detail in 'conne'ction zwith the'transfer of'an article through the cooking-section. It may be assumed that" by selecting thearti-clev-ia the keys l4 of'the operators position I! the contact 4a in the selecting'switchingdevice l'lhas been operated. Over this contact a circuit is closed for'the release magnet lM in the bin arrangement I to release the wanted article.

At the same time another circuit is closed" from earth over contact ag jumperi'ng frame 20, magnet HD' to battery. 'Ma-gnetIDop'erates and sets the diverter to "direct-arelea'se'd article to the corresponding cooking unit as described above in connection-with Fig.2. Magnet ID'furthermore closes its contacts Id! and-I122. "Overcontact ld2 a circuit is completed for thestepping magnet UM from earth over contact ld2, selfinterrupting contact um, magnet UM, contact ur to battery. The magnet UM thus steps its wipers la, lb, 1c up stepby step. under the influence of interrupter contact um.

The earth from contact' ia of the device IT is also connected :with. one contact --of the-contact bank covered by wiper (a and as soon as the wiper in its hunting-operation.reachesthiscontact acircuit-is completed for relayUR'fromearth over contactsta; relay. UR totbattery. Relay opensits contact ur and:breaks-ithe:stepping circuit-for magnet UM so that'the wipers 131g, 11b :and .-I:c-,-remain; now-in ;theirz-setspositicn.

As the selected article is wanted in a cooked state the operator has pressed the key I311. The keys l3a and l3b are used to start the motor 5 to drive the conveyor t (Fig. l) in one or the other direction as explained above. The motor 5 has two field windings 5a and 5b. When key l3a is operated it closes contact 40 and drives motor 5 with field winding 5a so that released articles are directly delivered to delivery counter 6 (Fig. 1). When key I3?) is pressed instead as mentioned above the contact 4| is closed and reverses the motor to transport released articles to the cooking section. Key l3b furthermore closes contact 52 to connect the control gear 28 with the jumpering frame 26.

The selected article is released from its bin by magnet 4M and in passing to the cooking section momentarily closes the trip contact 4T to complete a circuit from earth over contact 4T, lead 25, terminals and bus bar 39 of jumpering frame 25,.lead 21, closed contact 42, slow release relay SR of control gear 28 to battery. Relay SR. closes its contact sr and connects earth to the wiper 'ic. As soon as wiper 'lc, operated by magnet UM as mentioned before, comes to rest, the circuit is extended through wiper 1c and slow operating relay SO in the selected device 29 to battery. The relay S is so adjusted that it does not operate while the wiper passes the contacts during the hunting operation of wiper la, but operates as soon as wiper Tc comes to rest.

Relay SO closes its. contacts sol, $02, $03, $04 and $05. Over contact a locking circuit is provided for magnet lD from earth over closed contact 305, closed contact ldl, magnet ID to battery and this circuit is further extended from contact id! to the contact bank of wiper la, through wiper la, relay UR to battery, so that magnet 9D a d relay UR are both locked in their operated position when. contact 4a in the selecting switching device I! opens again to be ready for another selection. Contact s04 closes a circuit i or the heating elements 22 and 23. A further heating element 24 is switched on as well over a contact of contact-bank and wiper 11), lead 33, regulator l5 to battery. The regulator l5 thus permits a regulation of the heat in the cooking unit within certain limits. At contact sol a busy lamp l6, which is preferably arranged at the operators position, is switched on to indicate that a particular cooking unit is busy. Contact s02 closes a circuit from earth over contact s02, magnet PS of the collecting device 3| to battery and a second circuit over contact ps and motor 35 to battery to start motor 38 coupled with disc 3'! of the plate feeding arrangement described above in connection with Figs. 4A and 4B. When the motor starts, disc 31 closes the contact 38 to maintain the motor circuit bypassing contact ps which is interrupted by magnet PS. Magnet PS lifts the bars 43 (Figs. 4A and 43) as mentioned above and disc 31 with its attached levers extracts a plate from the plateholder and moves, it onto the bars 43. When the disc 3'! has made one revolution the motor circuit is interrupted at contact 38 and the motor stops, as contact 128 is still open.

Closing of contact s03 establishes a locking circuit for relay SO from earth over contact 503, bi-metal strip of thermal switch TR, contact tr, relay S0 to battery, so that this relay remains energized when relay SR. releases again and opens contact sr, as the released article has passed trip-contact 4T. A further circuit extends from contact s03 over the bi-metal strip and contact tr through motor GM to battery. Motor GM drives the movable conveyor or grate in the selected cooking unit to pass the article through the cooking unit to the collecting device 3|. The speed of the motor is adjustable by a resistor R2 to set the time for passing the article past the heating elements 22, 23, and 24. A third circuit is established from earth over closed contact $03, the bi-metal strip and winding of the thermal switch TR, resistor Rl to battery to heat the bi-metal strip. After a certain time which is adjustable by resistor Rl in conformity with the speed of motor GM, and which is long enough to release the cooked article to the collecting device 3|, the bi-metal strip breaks the contact tr, stops the motor GM and interrupts the locking circuit for relay S0. The relay SO opens its contacts sol to 305 and returns all parts to their normal position. Contact sol extinguishes the busy lamp and contact 302 releases magnet PS and thus lowers the plate with the cooked article on to conveyor belt 9 (Figs. 1, 4A, 4B) for delivery. At contact $03 the heating circuit for the thermal switch TR is broken and at the same time the circuit for relay SO and motor GM is further interrupted so that they cannot operate again when the thermal switch TR after cooling ofi again closes its contact tr.

The heating elements 22, 23 and 24 are switched off at contact sod and the locking circuit for magnet ID and relay UR is interrupted at contact s05. Magnet lD opens its contact ldl and ldZ so that stepping magnet UM cannot operate again when contact ur is closed by the release of relay UR.

Thus the whole system is now ready for the next operation. If necessary contact s05 can be replaced by a time relay which releases the diverter magnet ID and the relay UR as soon as the selected article has reached a cooking unit, so that another article can be passed on to one of the other cooking units. In this case a separate regulator l5 has to be provided for each cooking unit. As indicated in Fig. 5 other cooking units are connected with other contacts of the banks of wipers lb and 1c and operate upon selection in the same manner. Whether one plate delivery unit is used for each cooking unit or for a plurality of cooking units depends on the requirements in each particular case. Furthermore it is possible to make the resistors RI and R2 in the same way adjustable from the operator's position as shown for the heating element 24, to alter the time for which the article remains in the cooking unit.

The use of a plurality of heating elements in each cooking unit has the advantage that for example foodstufi coming out of the refrigerator chamber can first be warmed up to a certain extent before it is exposed to the temperature necessary for cooking.

Articles suitable for cooking can be stored in the stock bins in containers which are suitable for cooking purposes, so that an article is conveyed with the container from the stock bin to the cooking section and is delivered after cooking in the same container to the delivery counter.

Furthermore, it is possible to store articles in a precooked state so that they have only to be warmed up in the cooking section.

The foregoing description shows the invention by way of example only. It is possible, for ex ample, to provide a plurality of key sets, so that a plurality of operators can send out electrical 9 signals to set the various control. devices and to release" articles from thevarious.- bins. Any" released article isthendirected to-o'ne of the cooking units in the cooking section and after cooking each article is deliveredto an: :appro priate location. A-plurality of: delivery counters can: be provided as well;- so that each customer can selectcook'ed dishes without inter fering'with another customer.

. Itisclear th'at instead of connecting only the: last heating element of each cooking unit-with the operators position, provision can be made to adjust each of the elements separately to vary" the' heati in each cooking unitto a wider extent;- Although in the embodimentishown and de scribed above individual motors: are used" to drive" the various movable parts, these motors canbe replaced by" clutches which selectively connect the various parts with common driving means.

These and other modifications in the system aswell as in the cooking section can be made without departing from the spiritof theqinvention.

I claim:

1. System for dispensing articles of varied character, comprising: a plurality of stcrageanddispensing devices for selectively dispensing there from articles including articles: suitable for'conk ing; means including contact members and switching-means electrically connected with said storage: and dispensing devices for the selective operation thereof; means to convey dispensed articles to a delivery point; a cooking section; means to selectively divert dispensed articles suitable for cooking to said cooking section, said cooking section including means to move said articles through said cooking section and heating means to cook said articles while passing through said section; and means to convey said cooked articles to a delivery point.

2. System for dispensing articles of varied character, comprising: a plurality of storage and dispensing devices for selectively dispensing therefrom articles suitable for cooking; means for the selective operation of said storage and dispensing devices; a conveyor belt to convey dispensed articles to a delivery point; driving means for said conveyor belt; switching means associated with said driving means to reverse the direction of movement of said conveyor belt; a cooking section adjacent to said conveyor belt to receive articles from said belt when it moves in the reverse direction; and further conveying means associated with said cooking section to convey articles from said cooking section to a delivery point.

3. System for dispensing articles of varied character, comprising: a plurality of storage and dispensing devices for selectively dispensing articles therefrom; switching means for the selective operation of said storage and dispensing devices; a cooking section; conveying means associated with said storage and dispensing devices and said cooking section to convey dispensed articles to said cooking section, said cooking section comprising a plurality of cooking units; diverting means operable by said switching means to transfer a dispensedgarticle to one of said cooking units, said cooking unit being electrically connectable with andcontrollable by the storage and dispensing device of the selected article, and further conveying means to convey a cooked article to a delivery point.

4. System for dispensing articles of varied character, comprising: a plurality of storage and disi9 perIsingdeviccs-Wwr selectively dispensing articles therefrom: switching meansfor the selective-op:- eration of said storage and dispensing devices; a cooking section associated with saidstorage and dispensing devices and: adapted toreceive articles dispensed therefrom; said cooking section including a" plurality of cooking units, each cooking unit including a plurality of heating elements and a movable grate passing said heating elementst driv-ing' means for said movable grate and electrical connections therefrom to said storage and dispensing devices to control said driving means depending on the dispensing of'an article therefrom; means to adjust the temperature of: said heating elements in accordance with the kindof articlet'o be cooked; and means to convey" acooked article to' a delivery point.

5. System for dispensing articles of varied character, comprising: a plurality of storage and dispensing devices" for selectively dispensing artimes-therefrom; first switching means for the scle'ctive'i means-forthe selective operation of said storag'e emd dispensing devices; acooking section; associated with; said storage and dispensing de-- vices and adapted to receive articles dispensed therefrom, said cooking section including a plurality of cooking units, each cooking unit having a plurality cit-heating elements heated by elec-- trical current-of high frequency; further switching means electrically connected with and operate'dby said 'first switching means to select one of said'cooking units for operation; and a control device electrically connectable with said heating elements by said further switching means to adjust the temperature of said heating elements.

6. System for dispensing articles of varied character, comprising: a plurality of storage and dispensing devices for selectively dispensing articles therefrom; first switching means for the selective operation of said storage and releasing devices; a cooking section associated with said storage and dispensing devices and adapted to receive articles dispensed therefrom, said cooking section including a plurality of cooking units; control means electrically connected with said storage and dispensing devices and operable by an article dispensed therefrom, further switching means electrically connected with said first switching means, and operable thereby to connect said control means with one of said cooking units; a diverter arrangement electrically operable by said further switching means to direct a dispensed article to a corresponding cooking unit, each cooking unit including means operable by said control means to bring said cooking unit into operation and a timing device to switch said cooking unit ofi after a predetermined time interval; and means to convey articles passed through said cooking unit to a delivery point.

'7. System for dispensing articles of varied character, comprising: a plurality of storage and dispensing devices for selectively dispensing articles therefrom, each storage and dispensing device including an electrical contact device disposed for momentary actuation by each article dispensed from said storage and dispensing devices, respectively; first switching means for the selective operation of said storage and releasing devices; a cooking section associated with said storage and releasing devices and adapted to receive articles dispensed therefrom, said cooking section including a plurality of cooking units; control means for the control of said cooking units; a first jumpering frame and electrical connections therefrom to said storage and dispensing devices and said control means respectively; further switching switching means; a second jumpering frame interposed between said first switching means and said further switching means, said further switching means being adapted to connect said control means with any of said cooking units for the operation thereof; means under the control of said further switching means to transfer dispensed articles to a corresponding cooking unit and conveying means to convey articles from said cooking unit to a delivery point.

8. System for dispensing articles of varied character, comprising: a plurality of storage and dispensing devices for selectively dispensing therefrom articles including articles suitable for cooking; means including contact members and first switching means electrically connected with said storage and dispensing devices for the selective operation thereof; first conveying means to convey dispensed articles to a delivery point, driving means for said first conveying means and means to reverse the direction of movement of said first conveying means; a cooking section adjacent to said first conveying means and adapted to receive articles from said first conveying means while moving in the reverse direction, said cooking section including a plurality of cooking units; a diverter arrangement associated with said conveying means and said cooking units to selectively direct articles to one of said cooking units; further switching means electrically connected with and operable by said first switching meansto actuate said diverter arrangement corresponding to the operation of said first switching means: control means operable by a dispensed article and electrically connectable with any of said cooking units by said further switching means to actuate said cooking units; a timing device in each of said cooking units to stop the operation of an actuated cooking unit after a predetermined time; second conveying means adjacent to said cooking section to receive articles therefrom and to convey them to a delivery point; and a plate feeding arrangement interposed between said cooking section and said second conveying means to pass a plate on to said further conveying means when an article is passed through said cooking sec-' tion.

GEORG FRIEDRICH CHODZIESNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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